Just a little tease for something that is probably still quite a ways off. I’ve re-factored all my Django applications and added a few new ones. You can see all the content types I’m hitting with the new version of Jeff Croft Personal CMS Professional 2006 2.0 Beta. I had the following goals in mind for the rewrite:
So, the backend is basically done and all working well. Now I need a design. And I’m having designer’s block when it comes to this site. I’ve got some concepts I know I want to hit, but I haven’t found the inspiration for the overall look and feel yet.
Eventually…
View at flickr »
001 // Mark Otto // 12.01.2006 // 7:22 AM
That’s sweet as hell - being able code that I mean. I’m still nailing down PHP :p. If you’re looking for design inspiration, look at printed newspapers, photos, and try to put yourself in the users’ shoes. Those are my main courses of thought as I design.002 // gravesit // 12.02.2006 // 8:26 AM
You can go ahead and forward all that sweet python to my email…thanks!003 // worksology // 12.02.2006 // 5:10 PM
Yeesh, that’s beautiful. On a related note: Why do I feel so lazy?004 // scottmccracken // 12.05.2006 // 3:58 PM
So. Freaking. Jealous. This looks amazing, Jeff. I’m intriqued by the “homepage” and “discussions” sections. In the past I’ve used django.views.generic.simple.direct_to_template to create my homepage, but now I’m interested if there’s a better way. Thanks for the inspiration!005 // Jeff Croft // 12.05.2006 // 8:36 PM
Re: Homepages… I’ve also used django.views.generic.simple.direct_to_template (along with some template tags) to create homepages in the past, and that method works well. I’m not sure there’s a “better way,” per se. But, my idea with the homepages in the new version of the site is to store homepage “configurations” in a model, such that I can save old ones. Each configuration will have a template name, and some relationships to other objects in the system. I’ve not quite decided what these will be yet (since I’m not done with the design), but as an example, it might have relationships to a featured blog post, a couple of featured comments, a book recommendation, a music recommendation, and a selected photo from flickr. I take no credit for this concept — it’s basically what we do at World Online for the home pages of our sites (albeit on a larger and more complex scale). It’s a nice way to put some editorial control of what is appearing on the homepage in the admin area. If you don’t need editorial/manual control — and everything can be accomplished programatically (via template tags, for example), you wouldn’t need this. It’s the difference between always featuring the latest blog entry at the top of the page (which can easily be done programatically), and manually choosing the featured entry (which needs human intervention). As for “discussions” — you’ll have to wait and see on that one. I’ll tell you this, though: it’s probably far, far simpler and less interesting (although pretty cool!) than whatever you might be imagining. ;)006 // scottmccracken // 12.05.2006 // 9:22 PM
This makes a lot of sense, Jeff — especially following some of your recent posts on templating and personal content management. While you may be right that it’s not a “better” approach, it is most certainly “smarter” and for that I applaud you. I’m excited to see how it turns out.